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Thursday, 11 February 2016

After the Russian Civil War, many White Russians tried to escape Bolshevik persecution by fleeing abroad. They went to all corners of the world, and many White soldiers, needing work or seeking adventure, traveled to China and fought amongst the ranks of the various warlords.Shanghai became a particularly popular emigredestination, and a vibrant Russian ghetto soon established itself, traces of which can still be seen today.

So from this background we see here my pulp adventuress, 'Madame Ting-Ting', along withher trio of Russian ex-pat bodyguards and their rather care-worn Garford-Putilov armoured car.

The Madame was born Leia Natasha Petrovostalavitch (an extrapolation of afriend's 'Top Secret' RPG character name), the headstrong daughter of a Russian diplomat and Chinese courtesan. She isnowsimply known as 'Madame Ting-Ting'- that being the sound of her enemies' bullets bouncing off her armoured car. (My thanks to Sylvain's new puppy for inspiring me with the nickname!)

These models started life during the first week of the Challenge, but have languished for the past month so I thought I better get them cleared off the table before I ran out of time.

M. Ting-Ting and her bodyguards are all 28mm Copplestone figures. I had a lot of fun painting Ting-Ting, especially her red gloves and elegant cigarette holder. I chose the riflemen as I liked their ragged uniforms, thinking them fitting after their long retreat to centralChina.

The Garford-Putilov is from Copplestone as well. It's a wonderful model, though rather small in scale (1:55). These vehicles were actually quite huge, with this one weighing in at around 11 tons. Like many armoured cars of this period they were extremely underpowered - this one boasting only a 20 HP engine! Top speed was a blistering 18kph.

I love the turret with the barrel-encased 76mm gun and the wing MG sponsons. Completely mental.

For Ting-Ting's banner I wanted something 'Pulpy' and a bit silly, so I went witha motif that features a skull with crossed cigarette holders. Of course, since there are not many flags featuring this design, I had to make one myself. :)

It was a bit daunting at first, but I began to channel my long-dormant highschool drafting classes and managed to muddle through.

There you go, 'Madame Ting-Ting' and her 11 ton Tin Lizzie!

Thanks for visiting folks!

Finally! I don't know how long I've waited to adjudicate something from our gracious overlord. Now the day has arrived and he's only gone and treated me to a real corker as well.

I'm not sure quite where to start with how much I love this submission Curt. The infantry are all wonderful but the armoured car and the flag are both something else. I know from experience how hard these early ACs are to assemble and paint convincingly and this one has come together superbly, especially given all the extra stowage, etc. The banner is also quite something and has a most definite pulp feel about it.

All up that's 35 points worth of minis but it's got to be worth another 5 for the banner and the armoured car. Love your work mate! Cheers, Millsy.

Very nice, Curt! Really effective spot color on M Ting-Ting and her guards. The AC looks suitably used too. The pulpyNess sparked a thought of collecting a few " off" troops for similar jobs as Ting-Ting's crew.

Outstanding work Curt! The figures are superb but the AC and the flag are just awesome! Yo're certainly an infinite source of inpiration and I'd rather not want to mess with Madame Ting Ting. She seems to be a bit mental...